ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2021
GPs' use of gut feelings when assessing cancer risk: a qualitative study in UK primary care.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- When Medicine Gets Irritating: Interactional and Structural Triggers of Uncertainty in Family Medicine Residency Training.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2026Article
- Article
- GP referral to rapid diagnostic centres for non-specific cancer symptoms: a qualitative study.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Patients' perceptions on reasons for self-referring to the emergency department shortly before a cancer diagnosis: a qualitative study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- One template does not fit all: where next to improve hospital discharge communication to primary care?Primary health care research & development · 2025Article
- Personal and organisational health literacy in the non-specific symptom pathway for cancer: An ethnographic study.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Article
- Lung cancer and Covid-19: lessons learnt from the pandemic and where do we go from here?NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2022Article
- Recognizing sinonasal cancer in primary care: a matched case-control study using electronic records.Family practice · 2022Article
- Creating space for gut feelings in the diagnosis of cancer in primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2022Article
- Building the case for the use of gut feelings in cancer referrals: perspectives of patients referred to a non-specific symptoms pathway.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2022Article
- Interpreting negative test results when assessing cancer risk in general practice.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2021Article
- Approaches to diagnosing cancer earlier in general practice.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2021Article
- Characteristics of Optimal Cancer Referrals Made by Primary Care Clinicians: Scoping Review.Cancer control : journal of the Moffitt Cancer CenterArticle
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6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe use of gut feelings to guide clinical decision making in primary care has been frequently described but is not considered a legitimate reason for cancer referral.
aimTo explore the role that gut feeling plays in clinical decision making in primary care. DESIGN AND
settingQualitative interview study with 19 GPs in Oxfordshire, UK.
methodGPs who had referred patients to a cancer pathway based on a gut feeling as a referral criterion were invited to participate. Interviews were conducted between November 2019 and January 2020, and transcripts were analysed using the one sheet of paper method.
resultsGut feeling was seen as an essential part of decision making that facilitated appropriate and timely care. GPs distanced their gut feelings from descriptions that could be seen as unscientific, describing successful use as reliant on experience and clinical knowledge. This was especially true for patients who fell within a 'grey area' where clinical guidelines did not match the GP's assessment of cancer risk, either because the guidance inadequately represented or did not include the patient's presentation. GPs sought to legitimise their gut feelings by gathering objective clinical evidence, careful examination of referral procedures, and consultation with colleagues.
conclusionGPs described their gut feelings as important to decision making in primary care and a necessary addition to clinical guidance. The steps taken to legitimise their gut feelings matched that expected in good clinical practice.
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